ON the streets and in the stores of Harlem, Charles Augusto Jr. is a caped crusader.

Elderly and unassuming, the senior is a savior to the neighborhood in which he spends his days. He’s Clint Eastwood with a belly. And a credit to humanity.

Augusto, 72, who lives in Westchester, was working at his Harlem restaurant-supply company Thursday when four armed robbers with no scruples and even less conscience barged inside screaming, “Where’s the money? Where’s the money?”

They must have thought Augusto was an easy mark. They would be wrong.

Augusto’s first reaction was to try to avoid confrontation.

“I was hoping I could have talked them out of it. I’m sorry they’re dead, but they didn’t give me any other choice,” he said.

What happened next was something out of “Dirty Harry” crossed with “The Sunshine Boys.”

The morons, evidently unhappy with the lack of money in the till — Augusto told them he hadn’t had a customer that day — started pistol-whipping a 35-year- old employee, rifling his pockets and taking his $4.35.

This did not sit well with our hero of the moment, who was forced to witness a hardworking man young enough to be his son suffer such punishment. J.B., the victim, had worked for Augusto since he was 19. His eld- erly boss had to act quickly.

The moment the monsters lost track of Augusto, he went looking for a shotgun that he’d hidden away 20 years ago, following a robbery. He’d never used it before.

This gun was the last thing two of these menaces to society ever saw.

Discharging the weapon a mere three times, Augusto struck all four men, killing two and injuring the others. Not only is he righteous, but he is a good shot.

Some, likely, will see it differently. But Augusto had an absolute right to protect his property. He had a moral right to protect his beaten employee. And this is from a woman who detests guns.

Even so, Augusto’s thoughts yesterday were with the men he killed.

“I’m sad that there are mothers and fathers who lost a son today,” he said.

Augusto’s actions will reverberate through the neighborhood as word spreads that a seeming sitting duck was willing to do what was necessary to protect his own. From now on, robbers will think twice before brutalizing other honest businessmen.